'Outrageous' Coast fuel prices among highest in state

SUNSHINE Coast petrol bowsers are among the most expensive in the state and motorists have had a gut full.

December saw the Coast record a three-year petrol high with the average price of unleaded petrol of 142.4 cents per litre.

Only three other regional Queensland towns had a higher average price than the Coast.

Retired Buderim motorist Robert Holden did a road trip north recently and couldn't get his head around the dramatic price fluctuations.

"We filled up here for a 142.4c and got up to Gympie and it was 20c cheaper, same with Childers," Mr Holden said with a shake of the head.

"I don't know how young families can afford it. It's not like the public transport is good enough.

"I used to be able to fill up the tank for $2, those days are obviously gone but I just don't see how the prices can fluctuate so badly.

"It sh**s me to pay it, I only put $30 in at a time."

RACQ spokesperson Renee Smith said the prices were "outrageous".

"Drivers on the Sunshine Coast are really feeling the pinch. Motorists here were charged more for fuel than 30 of the 33 regional towns in the state," Ms Smith said.

"We saw a slight increase in the global price of oil, but there's no way to justify these high prices.

"The average on the coast was also higher than that of the major Australian capital cities."

Fuel prices. Robert Holden of Buderim struggles to fill a tank.John McCutcheon

Ms Smith said service stations had also charged, on average, indicative retail margins of 15.7cpl for ULP in December - one of the highest recorded across the State.

"We saw retailers extend the expensive phase of the Southeast Queensland price cycle last month which was likely because fuel retailers wanted to keep prices higher through the festive season," she said.

"To have indicative retail margins of 15.7cpl is unjustified and is simply rorting motorists."

Ms Smith said RACQ continued to lobby the State Government for mandatory petrol price reporting so motorists had the information required to make informed choices at the bowser.

"There's nothing illegal about the prices being charged. All we, as drivers, can do is to ensure we're only supporting the service stations charging the lowest price," she said.

"If we had real-time data at our fingertips, motorists would be able to make the best choice about where to fill up. We'll keep pushing the Government until we get this information."

Ms Smith said the Sunshine Coast was now in the discounting phase of the SEQ petrol price cycle and drivers should avoid the bowser until prices dropped further over the next week.